Cardinals forced inside for 'big, important' opening day of practice

Rick Scoppe Daily News Staff jdnsports

Monday

Jul 30, 2018 at 12:21 PMAug 1, 2018 at 8:22 PM

As he walked back inside after a brief stint with some players on the asphalt adjacent to the football field, Jacksonville coach Beau Williams rubbed his head in frustration – a frustration no doubt shared by most of his coaching colleagues.

While it wasn’t raining at the moment, the practice field was akin to a flood zone because of another deluge Monday morning, marking at least seven straight days of rain.

So the Cardinals – as most other area schools – had to practicefootball for the most part, if not totally, inside. JHS headed to the weight room and then the gym, where the Cardinals sprinted up and down the court.

Meanwhile, the volleyball team waited its turn, coach George Folger having moved practice time back to allow the football team time, which Williams said he appreciated.

“Nothing we can do about it,” Williams said of the weather.” We’ve kind of got to go with the plan that we’ve got. Thought the kids did great and the coaches did a great job getting in as much as we did today. But hopefully we can get outside tomorrow.”

The Cardinals had around 90 players show up, with about 50 expected to wind up on the varsity, Williams said.

Being inside, Williams said, restricts what you can do to some extent.

“You can’t throw as much inside. You can’t do as much as you want to do, space-wise because you’re constricted,” he said. “It’s a big, important day. You’ve got to make sure you’ve got everybody here for scrimmage purposes and hitting-wise.

“It’s not the worst thing to have happen since no contact anyhow. It is what it is.”

Despite being inside, the Cardinals didn’t lack for enthusiasm as they try to build on a two-year stretch that’s seen them go 21-8 and advance to the regional finals two years ago and regional semifinal last season.

JHS opens the season Aug. 17 at home against Southwest.

“We’ve got a bunch coming back, 20-some seniors,” Williams said. “So we’ve got a good group that knows what we’re doing, what to expect and been there before. They kind of move the young kids along.”

As with his colleagues, Williams was up bright and early, getting to the school at 4:45 a.m. to make sure everything was ready to go for practice – including pulling the blocking dummies inside so they weren’t soaked.

Williams said the players missed being able to go outside.

“Yeah,” he said, “but they adapted to what we needed to do. So it was good.”

Rick Scoppe can be reached at 910-219-8471 or via email at rick.scoppe@jdnews.com

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